There has been known a solid oxide fuel cell employing a solid electrolyte (solid oxide) (hereinafter the battery may be referred to as an “SOFC”). Such an SOFC employs a single cell which is formed of a solid electrolyte layer, an anode provided on one surface of the electrolyte layer, and a cathode provided on the other surface of the electrolyte layer. A fuel gas (e.g., hydrogen) and an oxidant gas are supplied to the anode and the cathode, respectively, and these gases are caused to react with each other, whereby the single cell generates electric power.
There has been disclosed a technique for supplying a fuel gas uniformly so as to achieve reliable electric power generation (see Patent Document 1). In this technique, an inlet buffer portion is provided on the upstream side of a fuel gas path, and a fuel gas inlet communication hole and the inlet buffer portion are connected by means of a plurality of inlet communication paths.